Swifties would know that their idol, Taylor Swift, didn’t release her concert film on Friday, October 13th by accident as her lucky number is 13. Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour is showing in 8,500 theaters in more than 100 countries.
The film spans two hours and 50 minutes, starting off with a suspenseful one-minute countdown and then going through her different “eras,” featuring fan-favorite songs from her albums like “22” from the Red album and “Cruel Summer” from Lover which she performed over several nights at the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. In theaters, fans dress up as Swift’s personas from her albums and excitedly chant lyrics.
Throughout the film, Swift takes us along her journey as an artist from her beginnings when she was only 14 years old to now; through this, we not only see Swift’s music evolve but we see her evolve as a person.
By charging $30 per movie ticket, compared to the steep price of up to $1000 concert tickets, Swift has made it more accessible for her fans to experience The Eras Tour.
In a poll of OHS Students, I found that 100% of respondents found the movie to be amazing, and for most people, the movie “exceeded [their] expectations.” Some students expressed feeling like they were at the “actual concert” as people were “singing along to music.”
To enhance the concert-like experience, theater-goers could purchase Swift merchandise, such as popcorn buckets ($11.99) and collectible cups ($9.99), depicting the artist in her different eras.
Another Swiftie, Flora Cole, said her only disappointment was caused by the fact that upon her arrival, all the Swift cups were sold out. She recommends “driv[ing]…earlier” if you want to purchase merch.
Cole saw that people at her theater were trading friendship bracelets and “screaming… the chants” just as they would do at an actual concert.
According to Cole, everyone had a “shared love of Taylor Swift [which] was really uniting”. Cole is among many who weren’t able to go to the concert so she says she would recommend going because “it was exactly what [she’d] expect [the concert] to be.”
Although my theater wasn’t chanting, singing, or jumping, I share Cole’s sentiment. At the theater, you could feel the unifying feeling as we were all there for the same reason, to bask in the music and energy of our idol, Miss Swift.
As a Swifite who was fortunate enough to go to a live concert, I completely agree with Flora, the film was exactly like the concert! Although that seems like an excitement to many, as someone who attended the concert it was disappointing because I expected to see the backstage experience of the Eras Tour; another minor disappointment was that my theater wasn’t singing – come on, Houston!!
Even though I was disappointed, on the plus side, I was able to re-experience the concert with much better visual and audio effects.
In all, if you have gone to the concert, the movie might seem like a repeat of the experience, but if you haven’t, then the film is a less expensive way to experience the jaw-dropping concert!